1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to safety shields for medical needles, and more particularly, to manually activated safety shields that employ structure for positioning and locking a shield.
2. Description of the Related Art
Problems associated with inadvertent needle sticks are well known in the art of blood sampling, percutaneous medication injection, and other medical procedures involving use of medical needles. Significant attention has been focused on needle stick problems due to the contemporary sensitivity of exposure to AIDS, hepatitis, and other serious blood-borne pathogens.
Procedures for removing a needle from a patient commonly require a clinician to use one hand to place pressure at the wound site where a needle is being withdrawn, while removing the needle device with the other hand. It is also common practice for a clinician to give higher priority to care for the wound than is given to disposal of the needle. In the case of typical needle devices without safety shields, such priority either requires the convenience of an available sharps container within reach or another means for safe disposal, without leaving the patient's side. Thus, the difficulty in providing adequate care while following safety procedures is often compounded by the patient's physical condition and mental state, such as in burn units and psychiatric wards. Under such conditions, proper disposal of a used needle, while caring for a patient, is a technological challenge to the state of the art.
The widespread knowledge and history associated with needle care and disposal problems have resulted in numerous devices for minimizing accidental needle sticks. Some devices utilize a separate sheath or cap mounted over the needle after use. These devices, however, require two-handed manipulation from a practitioner.
Other known devices employ sheaths that are spring activated or pivoting. These devices, however, may disadvantageously misfire, be inadvertently activated, or cumbersome to activate. Further drawbacks of current devices include high manufacturing cost due to complexity and the number of parts. Thus, these types of prior art devices may not adequately and reliably shield needle infusion and/or fluid collection apparatuses to minimize hazardous exposure.
Consequently, there remains a need to provide a more satisfactory solution for needle safety devices by overcoming the disadvantages and drawbacks of the prior art. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a more adequate and reliable safety apparatus having a medical needle shield that employs structure for positioning and locking a shield to minimize hazardous exposure to a needle. It would be desirable if the medical needle shield was actuated via one-handed operation. It would be highly desirable if the medical needle shield is easily and efficiently assembled and manufactured.